Renewal of CCTV gets go-ahead

Warminster Town Council’s Finance & Assets Committee agreed at their meeting on Monday to replace all the old Mark Mercer dome CCTV cameras in the town centre, and also to replace the existing TV monitors in the control room with flat-screen LED monitors. The current maintenance contract for the old cameras has soared from £7,500 per annum to £20,400 due to the equipment becoming obsolete and impossible to maintain, and to continue operating with the existing equipment at these costs will not be feasible. Introducing new monitors will represent a considerable saving in electricity at Dewey House, which currently runs at an annual cost of £4,500.
Members agreed that CCTV has proved its worth and there were now expectations that the service would be provided. Councillor Nicklin commented: “The Council is pleased to support the continuance of a modern CCTV system in the town”. It was felt it would be more cost-effective to replace the whole system in one go rather than piecemeal, and the costs of £16K from CCTV reserved funds were approved, along with a maximum of £34K from the Capital Fund.